Vietnam Money-Interbank dollar trade picks up, dong near low

On Monday, the State Bank of Vietnam set the mid-point dong rate at 16,519 to the dollar, a notch up from Friday's all time low of 16,520. Given the 2 percent band, effective since June 27, the dong could move between 16,190 dong to 16,850 dong....

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINHAN14828220080707?rpc=611

HANOI, July 7 Asia Pulse - As of July 1, around 11,431 foreign investors had joined the stock exchange, including 742 institutes and 10,689 individuals, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository Centre.
In June alone, the exchange attracted 372 foreign investors, including 30 institutes and 342 individuals.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080707/4/3ltou.html

Patricia Lui and Wes Goodman

Monday, July 07, 2008

Vietnam's currency controls are forcing foreign investors to go into the black market to obtain US dollars, aggravating declines in the world's worst- performing stock market and pushing benchmark bond yields above 20 percent...

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=16&art_id=68134&sid=19659287&con_type=1&d_str=20080707&fc=1

Vietnam faces rising inflation problem

AM - Saturday, 5 July , 2008 08:05:00


Reporter: Karen Percy



BRENDAN TREMBATH: A lot of countries are confronting accelerating inflation, but in Vietnam the problem has become acute.

Consumer prices are up more than 20 per cent from a year ago. The country's Communist government is taking steps to try to slow price gains, but will the measures take the shine off one of the region's economic success stories of the past decade?

From Hanoi, South East Asia correspondent Karen Percy reports.

(Sound of traffic)

KAREN PERCY: Hanoi's streets are crowded with new cars and motorbikes, evidence that ordinary Vietnamese are becoming more prosperous...

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2295333.htm

By Kerin Hope and Theodor Troev in Sofia
Published: July 8 2008 02:11 | Last updated: July 8 2008 02:11

For years Bulgaria has been a source of cheap labour for western Europe. Now the tables have been turned on the Black Sea state, as it finds itself facing an acute shortage of workers and turning to far-reaching measures to make up the shortfall: inviting Vietnamese to fill jobs in manufacturing and construction...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b9f1ee4c-4c70-11dd-96bb-000077b07658.html

Vietnam Dong Black Market Rate Gains, Narrowing Gap (Update2)

By Patricia Lui and Jason Folkmanis


















July 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Vietnamese dong rate in the black
market has strengthened towards the official level after the
government released more dollars into the economy and cracked
down on state banks' currency transactions.
The dong, allowed to trade 2 percent either side of a daily
reference rate set by the central bank, traded at 16,849.50 per
dollar at 4:15 p.m. in Hanoi. The black market rate is now about
2 percent away from the allowable range, according to JPMorgan
Chase & Co. The gap was as wide as 10 percent in June.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601083&sid=aAp7h5grwyFw&refer=currency

HANOI, July 8 (Reuters) - State-run BIDV, Vietnam's second-largest lender, said it was cutting its lending rates for customers in key industries, such as oil, cement and steel, to boost the economy...

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINHAN12062220080708?rpc=611

25 Jun, 2008, 0917 hrs IST, AGENCIES

PITTSBURGH: Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc, announced Tuesday that it will look into buying a stake in a refinery project with a state-owned minerals development company in Vietnam.

Under an agreement with Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, an Alcoa subsidiary will conduct [color:d91a=blue! important][color:d91a=blue! important]due [color:d91a=blue! important]diligence on buying a 40 per cent stake in the proposed Nhan Co, alumina refinery. The facility, to be built in Dak Nong Province, would produce 600,000 metric tons per year of alumina, a material made from bauxite and used to make aluminum.....

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International_Business/%20Alcoa_subsidiary_considering_deal_to_invest_in_Vietnam_refinery/articleshow/3162339.cms

HANOI, July 9 (Reuters) - Vietnam has ruled out fuel price hikes for the remainder of the year, signalling that it will put the fight against double-digit inflation ahead of worries about the cost of subsidies...
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINHAN2514620080709?rpc=611

HANOI, July 9 Asia Pulse - The Czech Republic sees Vietnam as one of its priority partners to boost trade relations with, a representative from Czechs Ministry of Industry and Trade said on July 8...
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080709/4/3lwkn.html

HANOI, July 9 Asia Pulse - About 20 Danish businesses involved in printing and packing, and producing materials that help protect the environment and save energy, will arrive in Vietnam from 6-12 October to seek investment opportunities...
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080709/4/3lwks.html

HANOI, July 9 Asia Pulse - Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat has asked the northern mountainous and northern central regions to focus on rice production to increase the staples annual outputs by 2 per cent from now to 2015...
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080709/4/3lwnx.html

Brazil's president sought to increase trade ties with Vietnam on Thursday during his first visit to the Southeast Asian country, while Vietnam said it hoped to benefit from Brazil's football skills. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said commerce between the two nations...

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/brazilian-president-seeks-stronger-trade/n20080710043609990005

HANOI, July 10 Asia Pulse - Seventeen auto makers in Vietnam sold a combined 68,609 vehicles in the first half of 2008, up 141 per cent year-on-year, the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA) said yesterday...
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080710/4/3lytb.html

HANOI, July 10 Asia Pulse - Despite fluctuations in the global market, Vietnams textile and garment sector has set an export target of US$9.5 billion for this year.
Speaking at a press meeting on Monday, the chairman of the Vietnam Textiles and Apparel Association, Le Quoc An, said in the first half of the year, the sector had an export turnover of $4.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent...
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080710/4/3lyq7.html

HANOI, Jul 09, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX News Network) -- Vietnam is making preparations to build a petrochemical complex, including an oil refinery, with total investment of 10 billion U.S. dollars in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province, according to local newspaper Young People on Wednesday. The...
http://www.insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?n=1&neID=20080709375.4_ad1e003d23218fc8

MAJOR INVESTMENT: Top officials were among the 1,000 Vietnamese at the ground-breaking ceremony, highlighting the project’s importance Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) has broken ground on a steel mill in Vietnam, which will become the world’s sixth-largest when it launches full-scale operations, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News said yesterday. Formosa Plastics, Taiwan’s largest petrochemical manufacturing conglomerate, held a ground-breaking ceremony for the steel mill on Sunday in Ha Tinh...
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2008/07/08/2003416846

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HANOI, Vietnam - Taiwan has surpassed Canada to top the list of investment in Vietnam by country of origin, as pledged foreign direct investment in the Southeast Asian country soared nearly fourfold so far this year. A Vietnamese government official said Monday it indicates investors are...
http://www.mytelus.com/money/news/article.do?pageID=ex_business/home&articleID=2944083

Pledged foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam has soared nearly fourfold so far this year, a government official said yesterday, indicating investors are optimistic despite surging inflation. As of Sunday, overseas companies had agreed to invest US$31.6 billion in 478 projects compared with US$8.5 billion during the same period last year, said Nguyen Thuy Huong, an official...
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2008/06/24/2003415571

HANOI, July 11 Asia Pulse - The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has said Vietnam Airlines cannot launch its direct service to the US by the end of the year because it has not met requirements to embark on the new route.
According to aviation experts, Vietnam Airlines can only meet Extended Twin Engine Operation (ETOP), a requirement for direct flights to the US, by the end of this year...
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/080711/4/3m0ml.html

19:27, July 11, 2008
With humid environment and good weather, Vietnam is rich in herbal resources, giving it potential to develop Chinese medicine products, said a Chinese pharmaceutical company official....
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90884/6448755.html

Fri, Jul 11 2008, 11:18 GMT
Vietnam Bks Receive $17 Billion In Deposits Due To High Rates-Report

HANOI -(Dow Jones)- Vietnamese banks have received total deposits in foreign currencies, mostly U.S. dollars, valued at $17 billion, state media reported Friday, citing state bank sources.

Foreign institutions are increasingly depositing funds in Vietnamese banks to receive annual interest rates of about 4%, even though domestic banks get 6% to 8%, said the Dau Tu newspaper, published by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. It didn't give comparative figures...
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=07630e2f-2f64-4f70-8ae8-40c16e2bef27

Helpful website:

http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/news/

(26-06-2008)
HA NOI — Commercial banks this week continued raising long-term deposit interest rates, up to 19 per cent per year, in an attempt to attract new deposits.
Most short-term deposits offered rates of around 18 per cent annually...
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=04BUS260608

(21-06-2008)
HCM CITY — Viet Nam’s real estate market is suffering a severe lack of capital as banks shut off credit flows to the industry.
The credit crunch is not only having a negative affect on property investors though. Banks are also refusing to lend to private individuals who wish to borrow money to buy their own home...
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01BAN210608